1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of retail checkout systems, and particularly to advantageous aspects of systems and methods for pre-scanning merchandise in a customer's cart while the customer is waiting in a checkout line in order to expedite the checkout process.
2. Description of Prior Art
During peak shopping periods, such as the winter holiday season, retail customers often experience delays in the checkout process as checkout lines increase in length. It is typically not an efficient use of store resources to increase the number of permanent checkout stations, particularly where peak periods occur relatively infrequently. There is thus a need for alternative ways to speed up the checkout process.